Troubleshooting and Fixing Windows 8's Boot Configuration

Windows 8 received a decent amount of enhancements on the desktop side that I tend to appreciate versus running Windows 7, even if that means I get Metro standing in the middle here and there occasionally. One such area of improvement is notification management and how it handles updates and system restarts. Running the final version of the OS for a few months now, it’s been a painless affair until this past weekend.

Unable to boot all of sudden, after some troubleshooting and settling on the idea that it wasn't a hardware problem, my best bet was to try to fix the MBR (Master Boot Record). With a long history of dual booting different versions of Windows over the years, finding a corrupt MBR, boot sector, or Boot Configuration Data (BCD) is nothing new, but it took me longer than usual to come to a solution. Here are a few things you can try and hopefully get back to full speed in no time.